Courier Logistics, Success through Recession

Courier Logistics is building on its success with the launch of a new division. They have a fantastic loyal customer base and have built an enviable reputation for customer satisfaction.

For almost 20 years Courier Logistics has been collecting and delivering parcels and pallets across the UK - Now based in Rotherham on the Barbot Hall Industrial Estate they are ready to increase their pallet sales and establish their haulage division.

The new division will be headed up by Paul Johnson Director of Sameday Logistics; the new service will offer full & part loads that are delivered nationwide. Paul who has been with Courier Logistics since 1994 is really looking forward to the new challenge which is all part of the growth strategy within the company.

Employee retention and customer service has always been at the heart of the Courier Logistics ethos and has meant that most of the initial customers are still using the company and remain loyal to them; the customer retention level is a combination of very reliable same day and overnight delivery service and the efficient processes and procedures that are implemented by the Courier Logistics staff.

Managing director Nick Cusworth said: “We already have a very active same day division but recognise the time was right to grow organically and establish a haulage division. This enables us to reach a wider customer base. We have many long-standing loyal customers who have trusted us to move their parcels and pallets around for years so it’s a natural choice for them to place further trust in us with our new haulage division”

Courier Logistics is a shareholder of APC Overnight Parcels, a parcel delivery company offering unrivalled national coverage, and a shareholder member of Pallet Track, the UK’s fastest growing overnight palletised freight distribution network. This association with a parcel and pallet network enables Courier Logistics to provide the very best level of service across the UK to their existing customers and the growth within the business means they can offer the same reliable service to new customers.

“We use APC and Pallet Track because they are the best in their field without question,” said Nick. “APC are the best at moving parcels and Pallet Track are the best at moving pallets. We’re determined to see that our clients are well looked after and that’s why we are committed to using only the best service providers.”

Looking after customers is the number one priority at Courier Logistics although equally important is looking after our staff. Nick says that a happy workforce equals happy customers. “Our company is very friendly; our business managers go above and beyond for our employee’s which, in turn, encourages them to go above and beyond for customers.The friendly atmosphere experienced in this building gets transferred to allure customers through every call, inbound and outbound.

“I am very keen to promote a happy, enjoyable atmosphere within the company, which I strongly believe is the key to our success. Everybody who works here knows they have got a job to do but at the same time they know they are allowed to enjoy themselves at work. The company is run as a team, with no dictatorships. It is an open forum where anybody can have say and let us know what they think, whether they are an apprentice who started last week or a manager who’s been here for years.”

Apprenticeships are important to Nick; Courier Logistics has been running apprenticeships schemes for years headed up by Ingrid Kirkby but fully supported by Nick, five apprentices have recently moved onto the next stage of the process by being placed in full time employment within the company. Courier Logistics enjoys discovering young talent, and believes that similarities can be drawn between employees and customers.

“We like to nurture youngsters that are talented and mentor them through their careers; this nurturing approach is also applied to our customers. We have been with a lot of our customers from their first day of trading, but continue to fulfil their requirements and work closely alongside them as they establish business growth.”

Mentoring is also one of the policies adopted by Courier Logistics and one of the employees who has benefited from this is 27 year old Daniel Franey, who for the past four years has been the IT manager. Daniel joined the company in 2007 as a trainee and has seen his career go from strength to strength. It’s clear that the environment is one that Daniel enjoys working in.

“I think the best aspect of working here is that there is no sense of intimidation,” he said. “It doesn’t matter what level you’re at, everyone has as much right as the next person to express their opinion;
The managers here are all highly respected and their capacity to listen and learn from other staff members encourages personal growth and fantastic career prospects. Nick and Peters mentoring approach has maximised my skills, they have put their faith in me, helping me progress to a point where I’m really enjoying my position at Courier Logistics and looking forward to a successful career within the company.”

Daniel has been keen to keep Courier Logistics at the forefront of technological developments, this is important to the company as the benefits from such investments are ultimately passed on to the customers by improving services.

Recently Daniel researched and introduced a VOIP telephone system which is a hosted telephony solution providing high quality inbound and outbound calls using cloud-based technology. With hosted telephony every user, site and mobile worker is easily connected and the company benefits from a scalable platform for growth and further improving efficiency through the use of easy to understand KPIs.

Other benefits include; live call monitoring; call recording and the ability to plug a telephone into any internet connection and link up to the system, meaning an employee’s extension number can be used from any location; something that could prove a lifeline to the company in the event of an unforeseen evacuation from its premises.

The VOIP system has quick messaging, which means that welcome messages can be easily updated and new selections added, meaning the company can quickly adapt its messages to keep them current, for example bad weather conditions can be posted, or other business relevant information which helps the customer, by selecting a specific option number to hear more the customer remains fully informed about any situation.

The VOIP system also makes it easier for Courier Logistics to monitor call efficiency logging call volumes and call answer rate.

This month the company also introduced a state-of-the-art virtual reception which enables visitors to the building to note their arrival at the touch of a button, with the system automatically informing the person they have come to see of their arrival via text and email. It also enables customers to collect their consignments swiftly and easily by streamlining and automating the process. Customers now enter their own details via a touch screen which notifies the warehouse that the customer has arrived to collect their goods. This cuts customer waiting time down by up to half.

These advancements are just some of the ways Courier Logistics is demonstrating its commitment to moving the business forward. Daniel is currently looking at ways of further digitalising services, by fully automating every aspect of a transaction, making it even easier to provide an efficient and more streamlined service to their customers.

Such dedication has seen their turnover grown from £6.4m five years ago to a prediction of £11m for 2013, even in turbulent times they have maintained high standards by working smarter and increasing efficiencies which has seen Courier Logistics achieve year on year growth.

Nick believes there is just one reason for this achievement.

“Ultimately, it comes down to keeping customers happy,” he said. “We provide a great service; our customers stay with us because they trust us. With addition of our new haulage division we can now provide a one-stop-shop benefiting our customers and making delivery choices much easier.

“We’re also looking to expand our international services by offering our customers a quality localised service on a worldwide scale making sure that wherever there is a need to send parcels, we will be there to take care of it, every step of the way.”

The Courier Logistics business model is developed using a long term strategy and the person standing alongside Nick and the rest of the team implementing this is Peter North their General Manager, Peter says “every element of what we do in the business with our people, our ethos and our strategy going forward, enables us to grow on a year by year basis. We have a long term strategy that encourages commitment from our employees and loyalty from our customers proving to both that we are here to stay. The way we do that is to maintain and improve our standards and run a very successful well established company.”

For more information contact Courier Logistics Ltd at their website www.courierlogistics.co.uk or you can call the customer service team on 0800 1701994.